Philip Friesen

Poverty, Race, and Cultural Sensitivity

Children learn about all three of these responsibilities by observing parents. Around 1920 my mother, Amanda Dahlenburg, was in elementary school. One day on the playground she and all her friends reported what they had eaten for dinner the previous evening. A couple of Lakota children reported they had eaten chicken. Everyone was surprised. “Where did you get the chicken? ” All the white...

Philip Friesen

How Jesus Changed the World

Talk given at the Islamic Center of Minnesota on February 19, 2012 This talk was given at the monthly Muslim/Christian dialogue sponsored by the Islamic Center of Minnesota. On February 19 the topic was, How did Muhammad and how did Jesus change the world? Strong reaction came in response to the section on pacifism. One liberal minded feminist objected to my so called “triumphantalist” claim...

Philip Friesen

Mennonites and Same Sex Marriage

Is the boundary defining marriage in Genesis an insulated wall of concrete and steel that cannot stretch or bend, or might it be more like a living membrane that can expand or contract depending upon circumstances? If the latter, how much stretching can marriage tolerate without destroying its purpose? Read Philip’s full paper: Mennonites and Same Sex...

Philip Friesen

LOOK WHO’S FOLLOWING US! Could it be the campus atheists?

Years ago in Taiwan some of our missionaries were impressed by a painting on the wall of the Buddhist hospital that showed a Buddha surrounded by children and a caption that reminded us of Jesus’ welcome to children in the New Testament. Perhaps some older readers will recall the Hindu groups, like the Hare Krishna people, handing out their “gospel” tracts in public places during the 60’s. Now...

Philip Friesen

The Gift or the Giver- Can Liberty Destroy Us?

JOSHUA, JESUS, AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS Are our liberties destroying us? “I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.” Joshua 24:12 Joshua is an enigmatic book for many. The most difficult part is not so much God’s judgment against his enemies, but how any of God’s people could be the...